Always have a light on in the front of the house. Back too if it’s exposed. Simple and cheap, and probably the best deterrent.
Always have at least one light on a timer inside the house so it goes on at dusk.
Place wooden dowels in all the window frames so that a perp has to break a window to get in.
Make sure a neighbor knows you are going on vacation and that they promptly remove flyers, packages, newspapers, etc. from your driveway and foot path.
Of course, remove flyers and packages immediately when you are home.
When you moved in, did you change the locks? After giving a contractor the key, did you change the locks? Change the locks!
Also don’t leave anything in your car. A cluttered car is a target. Also, don’t leave the garage door opener in your car if you leave it outside.
Make sure the door from the garage to the house is a deadbolt lock. Make sure the deadbolt at the front door requires a key internally if the door has glass or glass next to it (if you do this have an easily accessible key nearby in case of emergency)
If you do not have the ability to create hats at will, think of another good distraction should you come face to face with a perp
Remember that a perp isn’t necessarily after your cache of gold bars (they’re probably just gold coated tungsten anyway), they just want something/anything to sell, so don’t leave anything within sight of the windows that you could sell for “dope”.
